


Music, Hats and Panta (Shoumade Collection)

by Mayasha_Chan1



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Drabbles, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, M/M, More tags to be added, Multi, Multiple Partners, Romance, Series of stories, Shoumade, So many AUs, This is my OT3, multiple stories, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-01-23 04:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12499024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayasha_Chan1/pseuds/Mayasha_Chan1
Summary: A collection of stories for the pairing Kaede x Kokichi x Shuichi (Or as I've dubbed their ship name, Shoumade)Some are set in the canon story. Some are AU. And some are in Modern AU.I'm more than happy if someone wants to make any of these oneshots a full length fic. Just message me which one you'd like to adopt and you will most likely get my permission.





	1. Sparks of Magic (Hogwarts AU)

“Ugh. Look at who’s walking by right now.”

“Oh gosh, is that the quiet guy who’s always hanging around with _them_? He’s part of the freaky trio with that creepy three-way relationship?”

“That’s them! It’s so disgusting. Don’t they have any respect for themselves?”

“They’re so weird!”

Shuichi sighed and pulled his books on Patronus’ and Advanced Transfiguration closer to his chest. It seems even in a school bursting with magic, there were still bullies. If only there was a spell that could block out their spiteful comments.

Shaking his head, Shuichi shuffled into the Great Hall and immediately grimaced when he noticed the number of students chatting and gossiping at the four different house tables.

 _Isn’t it supposed to be less busy here in the afternoon?_ Shuichi groaned internally. How was he supposed to find Kaede and Kokichi now?

Though that proved to be less difficult than he thought, as Kaede suddenly poked her head above the crowd – Her beautiful blonde locks easily setting her apart from the crowd – and waved him over. Even when absent of her usual Gryffindor cloak, Kaede Akamatsu couldn’t mistaken for any other house in Shuichi’s eyes. She was encouraging, confident and had a seemingly endless fountain of bravery within her heart. Heck, she was the main one who brought the three of them together – despite their respective houses.

Being friends with students from other houses can be problematic. Especially when all three of you are each in a different house. So, Kaede decided that they would each take turns sitting at that person’s house table, then at the end of each week, they alternated to another person’s house table and so on and so forth. This week was Kaede’s turn, so they were sitting at the Gryffindor today. Shuichi smiled and slowly made his way down the aisle to the last table on the Gryffindor row. To his delight and mild surprise, the table was mostly vacant of other students. The exceptions being Kaede and unsurprisingly, Rantaro Amami.

Rantaro was, to Shuichi’s shock at first, a Hufflepuff, and had been best friend’s with Kaede since they were little kids. Though, he disappeared from the school every now and then to go on great journeys, and study creatures and magic in different regions, he always came back with a great story, of which Kaede, Kokichi and Shuichi were always the first to hear. Calm, soft-spoken and far more intelligent than he lets people believe, Rantaro was a loyal friend. But what really cemented Shuichi’s friendship with the Hufflepuff was the fact that he didn’t judge either him or Kaede for their relationship with each other and Kokichi. Granted, he’d sat both him and Kokichi down for the “Over-protective Brother” speech. But there was no malice or disgust in his eyes. He saw their mutual love for each other, and respected them for it.

_“You can’t help who you love, right? As long as you all love each other, who am I to judge you?”_

Shuichi dumped his books on the table with a sigh of relief and quickly sat down. He was immediately greeted with a big hug, and a kiss on the cheek by a beaming Kaede – which as usual, made his cheeks flush red – and a casual wave from the grinning green-haired boy, a Bowtruckle sitting happily in his pocket.

“Shuichi! I’m so happy to see you! You won’t believe what happened in Quidditch practice today!” Kaede released him from the hug, but didn’t move from his side – instead choosing to gently lean her head against his shoulder, very content and comfortably.

Shuichi felt his blush darken in response, faintly hearing Rantaro chuckle at the familiar sight. “Yes. Your girlfriend here scored goal after goal through the 30 point hoop. She truly was an inspirational sight for the Gryffindor team.” Rantaro said.

“Wow, great job Kaede.” Shuichi winced at the lack of enthusiasm in his response. Crap, he didn’t want his girlfriend of all people to know that those girl’s comments had gotten to him.

“Shuichi? What’s wrong? Did someone say something mean to you?”

And of course, she saw right through him.

“A-Ah… It’s nothing really. Just some more gossip about my hat, our relationship—“ Shuichi froze. Oh man, he wasn’t supposed to let that slip.

Kaede’s eyes instantly narrowed in anger, a frown replacing her usual kind smile. “Geez! What’s the matter people! Can’t they just accept that all three of us love each other and are happy together?” She huffed, cheeks puffing out slightly as she pouted.

Rantaro shook his head, “Some people just can’t stand to see others happy. Don’t worry about them Shuichi. If all they can talk about is you, Kaede and Kokichi’s relationship, then they’ve obviously got nothing worthwhile going on in their own lives.”

Kaede nodded her head in agreement, “Yeah, it’s just as Rantaro says. As long as we have each other, it doesn’t matter what they think! You know that Kokichi would say the same thing.”

“Kaede…” Shuichi murmured. Words could not describe how much Kaede and Kokichi mean to him. If they hadn’t approached him in the 1st year, he was fairly certain he would have remained alone, even now in his 5th year at Hogwarts. To hear that the gossip about their unusual relationship didn’t bother either of them in the slightest, it honestly sent his heart soaring.

Kaede gave him a warm smile, “I—I really do love you, Shuichi. Just as I love Kokichi too, and I’m fairly certain that while he will never say it directly, he loves us both too. And the last thing we want to see is you panicking about the opinions of other students – Don’t even try to deny that you weren’t worried in some way because we knew you were.” Shuichi shut his mouth, his protest dying on his tongue. “So please, don’t let their comments or opinions bother you. The only opinions that matter when it comes to our relationship, are our own, ok?”

Feeling the edges of his mouth curl up into a smile, Shuichi couldn’t stop himself from giving his wonderful girlfriend a loving hug. He’d make sure to give Kokichi one too later on. Speaking of Kokichi…

“Hey, where is Kokichi? He’s not normally this late.”

Kaede momentarily blinked in confusion as she glanced around the hall then looked to Rantaro for help, only to receive a shrug in response.

They didn’t have to worry for long though.

An ear-piercing scream tore through the hallway just outside the doors of the Great Hall, causing everyone to fall silent and look to entrance in confusion. Their came in the form in two girls running past the doors, grabbing their hair tightly as they continued to scream until they were long out of ear-shot. Shuichi briefly recalled that they were same girls that had been gossiping about him as he’d entered the hall.

Silence continued to dominate the hall. Everyone both confused and bewildered at what they just saw. But before anyone could comment on it, the ever familiar laughter of a certain small, mischievous purple haired Slytherin boy echoed through the hall as he entered.

“There he is.” Rantaro chuckled, obviously aware of some joke that Kaede and Shuichi were unaware of.

“Oh? Everyone went silent for little old me? Why, you all certainly know how to make a boy feel special” Kokichi grinned, throwing his hands behind his head in his signature pose. His comment drew a few laughs from the surrounding students, easily breaking the tense silence in the room and sending everyone back to their previous conversations.

It didn’t take long for Kokichi to spot them all. He shot them a quick wave and then sprinted his way down the tables, his green and silver house scarf swishing behind him. He only stopped when he was directly behind both Kaede and Shuichi.

“Hey Sweet-chi! Hey Kae-bae! Sorry I’m late!” Kokichi teased, throwing his arms around both of them.

“Kae-bae? Really Kokichi?” Kaede giggled, amused by the new ‘Nickname of the day’. Kokichi didn’t like to stick to one nickname for each of them, so he was constantly creating new ridiculous ones that he claimed “weren’t boring”. Half the time, most of them didn’t even make sense.

Kokichi smirked at Kaede’s response and plonked himself down next to Shuichi, grabbing a few grapes from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. “Great isn’t it? I came up with that one while I was creating a new potion in Advanced Potions today. Unfortunately, the potion was a bit highly explosive, sooooo… the potions room was completely destroyed.”

Shuichi sighed and glance at Kokichi, “That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Nishishi! As expected from a Ravenclaw like you Shuichi! You saw right through me.”

Shuichi watched as Kokichi placed the grapes in a goblet, added some strange sparkling powder and then with a small wave of his wand the contents of the cup melt away leaving a bubbling, fizzing purple liquid in its wake. Which the young boy greedily chugged down as if it was liquid ambrosia. Shuchi honestly had no idea where Kokichi had learnt a spell like that. All he did know is that Kokichi had dubbed it his “Panta Formula”.

“Where were you Kokichi? You’re normally the first one out of Potions classes.” Kaede asked.

Kokichi swallowed the last drops of the fizzy liquid, and wiped his chin with a childish grin. “Oh, I just had to take care of some nosey little mice, who were poking their noses in other people’s business.”

Shuichi frowned in confusion, until something dawned on him. “Wait. By ‘mice’ are you referring to the girls who were screaming earlier?”

Kokichi held a finger to his lips in mock thought, “Hmm. It could have been them, but then again, I could be lying.”

Like Rantaro, Kaede seemed to have also cottoned onto some sort of inside joke as a bright smile suddenly appeared on her face, and she quickly got up and gave Kokichi a kiss on his cheek. “You’re the best Kokichi!”

Kokichi returned her smile with a rare one of his own – genuine – ones. “Well what I can I say? Little mice should know better than to provoke an agile snake.”

Both Kaede and Rantaro laughed at the joke, while Shuichi was still lost in his own muddled thoughts.

“Looks like you won’t have to worry about those gaggling, gossipers for a while, Shuichi.” Rantaro smirked, propping his elbow on the table and resting his chin on his hand.

“W-Wait what?! What did Kokichi do?”

“Nishishi! You’re going to have to figure that one out by yourself, Mr Auror in Training!” Kokichi smirked, sending Shuichi a look that evidently posed the comment as a real challenge.

Shuichi sighed, and decided to open his book on Patronus’ to take his mind off the currently subject. But no matter how hard he stared the moving illustrations depicting the correct wand motions for the spell, his mind kept drifting back to one question.

_What the heck did Kokichi **do** to scare those girls?_


	2. Hope's Egg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shugo Chara AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a lot of fun to write! I love Shugo Chara and creating the different Charas for each of them was a blast!

_All kids hold an egg in their soul._

_The egg of our hearts, our would-be selves._

_Yet, unseen…_

“So Shuichi, my boy, what is it you want to be when you grow up?”

Shuichi froze, his fork still half way to his mouth, as he glanced at his parents each in turn. It shouldn’t have been surprising that they’d ask him a question like that. Especially since, he’d just recently started his 5th year at Hope’s Peak Elementary Division.

In fact, the question itself wasn’t even that difficult to answer. But… Shuichi knew he couldn’t tell them his dream. They’d never accept it. Only one person would support his dream, and he’s not here right now to save him from his parents peering gaze.

Swallowing nervously, Shuichi lowered fork back down to his plate and tried to rack his brain for an excuse. “W-Well, um… I d-don’t think I have anything at the m-moment.”

What followed was a few tense seconds of silence – that felt like eons in Shuichi’s opinion – before his father nodded with a calm expression. “That’s understandable. You’ve still got a while before who have to decide anything.”

Shuichi breathed a sigh of relief and picked up his plate, “Thank you for the food. Goodnight.”

With a few quick ‘Goodnights’ from his mother and father, it didn’t take long for Shuichi to enter his bedroom, shut the door and flop on his bed in exhaustion.

“That was a close one. I don’t know what would of happened if they found out.” That was a lie. He knew _exactly_ how they’d react; Shock and horror.

Shuichi didn’t want to upset his parents. But he couldn’t help it. He wanted to be a detective. Just like his uncle. He wanted to help people find those that they’d lost and help the police capture those who are evil.

Raising his hand to fiddle with the rim of cap – the very same cap his uncle had gifted to him when Shuichi had told him that he wanted to be just like him – and made himself a promise.

“One day, I will be a detective. I’ll be the best the detective the world has ever seen!”

Smiling to himself at his rather uncharacteristic confidence, Shuichi turned his bedside lamp off and snuggled under the bed covers. Dreams of a bright future and crime-solving, lulling him into a happy slumber.

Completely unware of the gentle white light, glowing on his chest.

\----------------------

As the bright rays of sunlight broke through the gaps in his curtains, signifying the start of a brand new day, it would have been the same as any other morning.

Except…

There was an egg in his bed.

_There was an **egg**. In his bed._

Shuichi stared at it, utterly unable to think of a logical reason as to why there was an **_EGG_** resting in the very bed he’d been sleeping in just last night. This had to be a dream, right? After all, there’s no he could of—I mean there’s no way he could have—

Shuichi shook his head. Nope. Don’t even think about _that_. Focus on the… egg.

The aforementioned egg was far different than any egg Shuichi had ever seen. It’s shell was a deep blue with white thin stripes running down it. Across the middle of the egg, was a black band – that in its centre – held the image of a magnifying glass.

Shuichi couldn’t help but be fascinated by the egg’s design. So much so, that he raised a shaking hand and tentatively touched the decorated shell. As soon as his skin made contact with the hard shell, Shuichi gasped.

It was warm.

The egg was warm.

‘I-Is… Is something actually alive in there?’ Shuichi pondered in wonder.

Throwing caution to the wind, Shuichi gently cupped the egg in his hands and brought it closer. It really was warm. Maybe—Maybe there really was something growing inside-

“SHUICHI! You need to get up sweetheart; otherwise you’re going to be late for school!”

“A-Ah! I’m on my way!” He shouted back, scrambling around to for his school stuff and stuffing them in his backpack before pulling on his school uniform. The boy’s school uniform for Hope’s Peak Elementary division was a fairly simple one; a plain white, short-sleeved shirt with the school’s logo embroiled on the breast pocket. This was accompanied with a small black tie and a black blazer that also had the school’s crest on the front blazer pocket. The trousers he wore had a checkered black and white pattern on them, whereas the socks and shoes were once again, a plain black colour.

Grabbing his backpack, Shuichi started to head towards the door when his eyes drifted over to the unusual egg sitting on his desk. If there really was some form of life growing in that fragile shell – that might be born at any moment – he couldn’t very much leave it here. Could he?

\------------------

‘I can’t believe I brought it with me!’ Shuichi thought as he walked down through the gate into Hope’s Peak Elementary Division. He looked around at the other students walking by briefly, before opening the top of his backpack and smiling. There, resting on a soft fluffy yellow towel was his strangely patterned blue egg. ‘Good. It’s still ok. I need to be careful that I don’t crush it.’

“How are you doing little guy?” Shuichi murmured under his breath, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. But, almost as if the egg had heard him somehow, it started to shake all on its own.

Shocked, Shuichi continued to stare at the moving object. Completely unaware that he was about to bump into someone, until it was too late. Shuichi immediately held his backpack to his chest to make sure the egg didn’t receive any of the brunt from the fall. Though, it didn’t make the fall any less painful.

“Ow…”

“Oh gosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Wooooow! That was quite some landing there, but it could use some work. Hmm… I think I’ll give it a 6 out of 10.”

After opening his eyes – he hadn’t even realised he’d shut – Shuichi looked up and felt his breath catch in his throat. Of all the people he had to bump into it had to be Kaede Akamatsu and Kokichi Ouma, two of the most popular people in his class.

Honestly, you’d have to be living under a rock to not know about those two. Kaede was the beautiful, social butterfly that could motivate anyone with her positive attitude, whereas Kokichi was an infamous liar and masterful prankster – Though he wouldn’t spare you the time of day unless you interested him, which so far was Kaede and Kaede alone.  Even a social introvert such as himself knew who they were. But that wasn’t the only thing that made his heart stop for but a moment. Floating by each of their heads were two tiny fairy-like creatures! And they were staring at him!

How was no one else seeing this?!

**“Talk about clumsy! This guy is a grade A klutz! Hahaha!”**

**“Don’t laugh at him Dice! The boy could be really hurt.”**

And they could talk too!

Had he hit his head when he fell over?!

Suddenly, Shuichi felt his backpack start shaking violently and noticed that his egg was trying to wriggle its way out of one of the gaps on the side. Oh no! Not good!

“Hey, do you need a hand there?” Shuichi snapped his head up to see Kaede offering her hand in help with a sweet smile on her face. As much as he would have loved to take her hand, he had to find somewhere private to check on the suddenly active egg.

He stood up quickly and waved off her hand as all too familiar nerves began to rack his body, “N-No it’s okay. I’m fine. S-Sorry for bumping into you! Um… bye!”

Not even waiting for a response, Shuichi pulled the brim of his cap down further to hide his embarrassment and then dashed off past the other students, until he found himself in the Glass Garden at the back of the school.

‘T-That was just too embarrassing…’ Shuichi groan in his mind, as he let himself slide down the brick school wall. ‘I don’t even want to think about the weird rumours that will spread after that. As if they weren’t bad enough already…’

Shuichi let the backpack roll out of his arms onto the ground and pulled his knees up to his chest, his mind sinking further and further into a pit of negativity.

“Some future detective. I could barely hold eye contact with them, let alone a conversation. Why do I have to be so nervous all the time?”

**“If that’s all that’s wrong, we can fix that easily!”**

Alarmed, Shuichi pressed his back further against the wall and wildly looked around to see where that new voice had come from. “W-Who said that?! Where are you?”

**“Geez! I’m down here junior!”**

Darting his gaze to his backpack that he’d left on the ground, Shuichi watched in awe as the mysterious egg wiggled out of its hiding place and flew up into the air, before gently floating down until it was eye level with him. But that wasn’t all. The egg was still for but a moment as a bright light enveloped it and a loud cracking sound resonated in Shuichi’s ears.

As the light died down, in place of the egg was another one of those tiny fairy people from before. This one had long black hair and large, golden eyes. Despite this, the fairy seemed to be a male with its sharp features and piercing gaze. It also appeared that the tiny person was dressed like one of those ‘private eye’ investigators Shuichi saw on TV. He wore a light brown trench coat over a cheap brown suit. On his head was a brown flat cap and he held – what Shuichi could only deduce was – a tiny magnifying glass in his right hand and a small wooden pipe in his mouth that seemed to be producing bubbles with every puff he took.

Overall, this little guy looked like a tiny detective.

Shuichi couldn’t believe his eyes.

The tiny fairy man shot him a smirk and placed both his hands on his hips, **“Nice to meet ya kid! My name is Kojak, famous detective of the bureau and your Guardian Character – or Chara for short!”**

“W-What…?” Shuichi couldn’t think, heck he could barely breathe. That strange egg he’d found in his bed just this morning had now hatched into some kind of miniature crime show detective. It was all… Too much.

 **“Woah! Don’t freak out on me just yet, Shuichi!”** Kojak tutted, taking another deep puff of his pipe causing more bubbles to form. **“I need you to calm down so I can explain it all to ya”**

“H-How do you know my name?” Shuichi gasped, forcing himself to take deep breathes in and out.

Kojak smiled, **“That’s because I’m a part of you, kid. I was born from your heart! Cool, huh?”**

B-Born from his heart? That’s impossible. That doesn’t make any sense.

“I-I don’t understand. What do you mean you were born from my ‘heart’?” Shuichi asked.

Heaving a sigh, Kojak crossed his arms and fixed Shuichi with a sharp stare. **“Okay, listen up pal. ‘Cause I’m only going to explain this once. You have a dream, don’t cha? To become the greatest detective ever? That’s all stored in the Heart’s Egg, something all children hold in their hearts. Well, your feelings of hope and passion for your dream were so strong… They gave birth to me! And I’m going to help you make your dreams come true!”**

Shuichi grasped his head, trying to make sense of all this new, bizarre information. He felt like his head was going to explode. “So… Because of my dream to be a detective, you were born as my Guardian Chara?”

Kojak snapped his fingers. **“That’s it in a nutshell kid!”**

Shuichi chuckled. Kojak certainly knew some strange phrases. Still, Shuichi couldn’t help but feel a bit excited. This special creature was born from his dream? His hope? That was enough to bring a wide smile to his face. Unfortunately that smile quickly morphed into a scream at the sudden arrival of two very familiar people.

“See! See! I told you Kaede! I told you I saw a Guardian Egg on him!” Kokichi cheered, pointing at Kojak with a rather surprising, genuine look of excitement on his face. In turn, Kaede seemed mildly surprised as she looked between Shuichi and his Guardian Chara.

Shuichi stared at them both, wide-eyed. “W-Wait! You can see him?”

“Nishishi! Of course we can! I have the power of the all seeing eye!” Kokichi laughed, scaring Shuichi who suddenly realised that Kokichi was now sitting right next to him. When the heck did he get there?!

“Kokichi…” Kaede sighed and decided to sit on Shuichi’s other side. Once comfortable, she offered Shuichi a friendly smile, “Sorry about that, Shuichi. You see, we are just like you. Are dreams gave birth to our own Guardian Charas.”

Shuichi blinked. They had Guardian Charas too? That’s when it hit him. The tiny fairies he’d seen earlier, hovering by their heads. That had been their Charas!

Kokichi pulled on Shuichi’s sleeve to get his attention and grinned as his Guardian Chara hopped onto his shoulder, “Shuichi! Shuichi! You should meet my Guardian Chara! His name is Dice!”

Said Chara, jumped down onto Kokichi’s knee with a childish giggle of glee. This little Chara was _very_ different from Kojak. He had large violet eyes that were filled with mischief, along with a thick mane of messy hair and a fringe where each lock was a different, vibrant colour of the rainbow. His clothing was fairly childish too, comprising of a black and white checkered hoodie, and red and yellow coloured shorts. Tied to the side of his head was a theatre mask split between a happy and sad expression. A rather fascinating feature about this Chara were the tiny black devil horns and tail, attached to his head and backside.

**“Hey, hey! The name is Dice, and you better think twice before you mess with me!”**

Shuichi chuckled nervously and gave the little Chara a small wave in greeting. He then felt a light tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn his head and come face-to-face with another new Chara that could only be Kaede’s.

This Guardian Chara was definitely a girl. She had delicate feminine features; soft skin, rounded cheeks and warm, friendly emerald green eyes. She had long, silky pale pink hair that rest over her shoulder in a loose plait, tied off with a silver music note. Her clothing was simple but still quite pretty. She wore a single long, flowing dress with a fascinating colour scheme that starts a creamy white at the top and gently fades to a delicate purple the further down you go. The bottom of the dress was decorated with a black music score that seemed to flutter and flow with each swish of the dress. Across the rest of the dress were small, silver music notes that appeared to dance over the fabric. For footwear, she had purple ballet shoes and to top her outfit off she had a silver conductor’s baton charm attached to a necklace that hung around her neck.

 **“Hello there Shuichi, my name is Viola. It is a pleasure to meet you.”** Viola did an elegant curtsy in greeting and then gently held her hands in front of her.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Shuichi nodded in return, feeling a need to match her polite tone.

At this moment Kojak chose to fly over and sit on Shuichi’s shoulder, happily blowing bubbles as Dice tried to pop them. The whole situation created a soothing atmosphere. Each of them enjoying a good laugh as Dice leapt for a big bubble and ended up ultimately missing his target and falling into the grass.

“Say Shuichi, you should come and hang with us more often” Kaede said with a smile.

“E-Eh?”

Kokichi nodded his head rapidly in agreement, “Yeah! Yeah! Shuichi is always so quiet in class, so we all kind of pinned you as a lonely loser. But now it turns out that Shuichi was hiding this exciting side of himself all this time! That’s totally not boring!”

‘Lonely loser?’ Shuichi cringed at the apparent nickname his class had given him. He couldn’t exactly deny it, but still. “A-Are you guys sure about this? Are you sure I won’t be a nuisance?”  

Kaede frowned and shook her head, “Of course not! There are very few people in this world that still dare to dream about their future and try to strive for it no matter what. As people grow up, most people lose their Heart’s Egg and succumb to the mundane despair of those who have given up.”

She reached for his hand, gently grasping it in her own, “The world needs dreamers like us, to fight for those dreams and help kids like us not lose sight of those feelings of hope in their hearts.”

Shuichi didn’t know what to say. As he opened his mouth, Kokichi grabbed Shuichi’s other hand, “Shuichi should fight with us! It’ll be lots and lots of fun!”

Both of them were staring at him with pleading eyes. He’d never had someone look at him like that before. It made him feel… wanted. Needed. And dare he say, happy.

Shuichi made his body relax and then smiled, and gave his classmates a small smile, “O-Ok!”

Kokichi cheered and Kaede clapped her hands in delight, both of them quick to envelop him in a big hug.

Shuichi didn’t know what this would lead to. But what he did know is that a future with these two seemed a lot brighter than one on his own.

He will learn to be confident, and he feels like these two will show him the way.


	3. Not Your Typical Christmas (Christmas AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cute little Christmas AU with Shoumade!
> 
> Merry Christmas Everyone!

“Shuichi! Shuichi it’s time to wake up!”

Shuichi groaned, rolling over to the other side of his bed and burying himself further in the warm, comfort of his bed.

“Shuichi! Come on, who sleeps in on Christmas!”

Shuichi blearily moaned in response, clearly still not fully awake right now.

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this… Sorry Shuichi!”

Shuichi only had a moment to process how strange that sentence was before a waterfall of freezing cold water was poured on him, sending him flying out of his warm bed.

“AH! What the hell, Kaede?! That was absolutely freezing!” Shuichi yelled, rubbing his hands up and down his wet arms to warm them up.

Kaede giggled and clapped her hands together, apologetically, “I really am sorry, Shuichi. But you just weren’t waking up and we were getting impatient.”

Shuichi sighed, “Well, you could have found a less _chilling_ way to do it. And what are you talking – Wait. Kaede, what are you wearing?!”

Shuichi couldn’t believe it took him this long to notice, but Kaede definitely _not_ dressed in her normal attire. Rather, she appeared to be decked out in a full-on red and white Santa costume. She was even wearing the white, fluffy beard!

Kaede smirked and gave him a little twirl. “Do you like? Pretty festive isn’t it?”

Shuichi nodded, but frowned after a moment of thought, “While it’s very nice Kaede, I have to ask why you’re dressed as Santa and not Mrs Claus?”

Kaede laughed, “Oh! Well, I was going to dress as Mrs Claus at first but…”

“But…?”

Kaede shook her head and smiled, “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, you’ve got to hurry downstairs! Kokichi and I have been waiting for ages to open presents!”

“I’ll be with you guys in a moment. I have to put on some different clothes, since _someone_ got these ones _wet_.” Shuichi shot her a judging look to which she just adverted her eyes and hurried out of his room.

Shuichi couldn’t stop a small smile from making its way to his face. He knew they meant well, and he could never stay mad at them for long. You never can stay mad at those you love for long anyway.

It didn’t take long for Shuichi to get on a new pair of comfortable – _and drier_ – clothes. Now that he was dressed, Shuichi quickly made his way downstairs feeling a bit guilty that he’d been keeping them waiting.

As soon as Shuichi entered the living room, he was immediately met by a colourful array of rainbow twinkle lights, red and gold tinsel dangling across the top of the fireplace – where a roaring fire was blazing – and a lovely Christmas tree decorated with a wide variety of silly and themed Christmas ornaments, where stacks of presents littered its base.

It was beautiful.

“Merry Christmas Shuichi!” Kaede cheered, setting off a party popper upon his arrival making him chuckle at the fun greeting.

“And a Merry Christmas to you too, Kaede.” Shuichi smiled taking a seat on one of the three pillows Kaede had pre-organised on the floor. She said it would allow them to create a little ‘Present Opening Circle’ where they could all be close while they opened their gifts.

Kokichi and he had loved the idea instantly.

Speaking of which…

“Kaede? Where is Kokichi? I thought you said he was waiting down-“

Suddenly, the top of the present next to Shuichi burst off and out of the box came a flying mass of red, white and purple. Shuichi screamed as it knocked him to the floor.

_What the heck?!_

Taking a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Shuichi was finally able to get a good look at what collided into him, only to feel his jaw drop as he realised _exactly_ who it was.

“Merry Christmas Shuichi!”

And _exactly_ what he was **_wearing!_**

“K-KOKICHI?! What the – How did – Why are you in a dress?!”

Kokichi grinned and jumped off of Shuichi to strike a few poses. The dress that Kokichi was wearing was in fact a Mrs Claus outfit, with velvet red straps and a red, velvet base that reached down to his knees. There was white fluff trimming the top of the chest and bottom of the skirt. Wrapped around his neck - like his normal checkered scarf – was a long stream of purple tinsel that, in Shuichi’s opinion, really brought out his eyes.

“Nishishi~ Don’t you like it Shuichi? I think I look really cute!” Kokichi pouted instantly turning on the puppy eyes. He turned to Kaede and asked, “Don’t you think I look cute Kaede?”

Shuichi felt his blush deepen immensely – Wait since when was he blushing?! – as Kaede pulled Kokichi into a big hug and started rubbing his head, her own face tinted with a bright blush.

“Of course I do! You are adorable Kokichi!”

‘ _And she falls victim to his cute act again..’_ Shuichi thought, unaware that they had both turned their attention back to him until they were both sitting in front of him.

“Come on Shuichi! You think Kokichi is cute in that outfit too don’t you? And that I do too, right?”

“Am I cute Shuichi? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”

Shuichi felt himself sweat. He never enjoyed being the centre of attention – he just couldn’t handle it. But they were both looking at him so eagerly… URGH!

Curse both of them and their cuteness!

Feeling his face turn redder than a tomato, and burn brighter than the sun – He pulled his cap down over his eyes and murmured.

“I… think youbothlookcute…”

Kokichi frowned and held his hand to his ear, “Huh? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I said… I think you both look cute…”

Both of them frowned again, and Kaede poked Shuichi’s side, “Nope! We didn’t hear that Shuichi. You’ve got to say it a bit louder.”

Gritting his teeth, Shuichi swallowed his embarrassment and shouted.

“I SAID I THINK YOU BOTH LOOK CUTE!!”

The living room fell silent, the only thing that could be heard was crackling fire. As soon as Shuichi had realised how loud he had said that he immediately went to apologise, but was crushed by Kaede and Kokichi throwing themselves on him.

“K-Kaede?! K-Kokichi?!”

Both of them giggled and hugged him tightly, “Merry Christmas Shuichi!”

“We love you!”  


	4. A Warm Embrace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. Gosh. Writing in Kokichi's perspective is one of the hardest challenges I've ever had... I'm sorry if he doesn't come across accurately!

_Cold._

_Oh good Lord, is it cold!_

Kokichi sighed. He rubbed his hands together, hoping to generate even the tiniest bit of heat to his frost-bitten fingers. Shifting his position on the cold, hard and unbearably uncomfortable wooden bench, he took another glance at the huge ticking clock.

12:30am.

Had he really been waiting for this stupid train for _that_ long?

“ _Attention! We regret to inform any remaining passengers of the 10:00pm train to Tokyo, that we are still experiencing technical issues with the electricity within the rail tracks. We have contacted various taxi services and have organised for each of you to receive safe transport home. We apologise again for the inconvenience.”_

“Maaaan! How nice of them! It’s not like they said that hours ago!” Kokichi smiled to himself as another shiver wracked his body. Of course, he was lying. The station had been playing the announcement repeatedly ever since his train had been cancelled. The so-called “safe transport” had been utterly useless, as well. Only a few taxis turned up ( a ‘few’ meaning literally 5) for over 50 passengers, and from there it had turned into a bloodbath. One that Kokichi chose _not_ to part-take in for his own safety.

“Hmmm? Maybe I should give Shuichi and Kaede a call, and ask them to pick me up?” Kokichi posed in thought for a moment, and then grinned. “Nee-heehee! Just kidding! I don’t want to contact them at all!”

Even to his ears, that lie sounded hollow.

He… He really wanted to-

**_*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*_ **

Blinking in confusion, Kokichi pulled his phone out of his pocket. Staring blankly at the flashing screen, he could only focus on the nickname ‘Piano Princess’ as his phone continued to buzz away.

_Why is she-_

Suddenly, just as quickly as it had started ringing, the phone fell silent. He immediately wanted it back. Was his phone punishing him for his lie? He knew it was a silly thought, but the deafening, lonely silence of the station was just too agonising.

_Please-Please ring!_

As if hearing his plea, the phone began ringing again. This time, Kokichi wasted not a second before answering.

“Ah, if it isn’t the worst pianist in the world! What is someone like-“

“ ** _KOKICHI!!!”_**

The Ultimate Supreme Leader grimaced and held the phone far from his ear. Kaede’s voice continued to blare through the speaker, spouting a seemingly endless stream of angry – and somewhat panicked – questions.

“ ** _We’ve been worried sick! Why haven’t you tried to contact us?_** ” Feeling her voice had lowered to more reasonable volume, Kokichi pulled the phone back to his ear. “Why would I need to contact you? Nothing is wrong!”

“ ** _Kokichi, I know that your train was cancelled. Shuichi is already on his way to get you!”_**

“Silly Kaede! There’s no reason for Shuichi to come here. I’m perfectly fine-“Kokichi’s widened as a sneezed, the sound echoing around the empty station. He heard Kaede sigh on the end of the line and could already picture her rolling her eyes at him right now.

**_“Uh huh. Listen, Shuichi should be there any minute now, and he’ll get you home where we can warm you up! Seriously, I can’t believe they left you in the cold like that!”_ **

Kokichi felt himself fall oddly silent as Kaede continued to complain about the staff at the train station and how she was going to go right down there and yell at them if he got even a whiff of a cold. He felt like he should joke or lie like he normally did but, all he could focus on was growing warmth in his chest.

It felt so gentle, and comforting.

He was so focused on this feeling; he forgot how cold he had been just sitting there. He didn’t even notice when Shuichi arrived and rushed him into the car. He didn’t even notice the phone being taken from his hands or time it took for Shuichi to drive them both home.

What he did notice, was the way Shuichi kept asking if he was okay. He noticed the way Shuichi kept him close through the whole journey, even when they walked up to their apartment.

He felt the warm, rush of their home wash over him the moment they stepped through the door and straight into Kaede’s arms. He watched as they rushed him down in front of the heater, covered him in a thick blanket and pushed a hot mug of tea into his hands.

“Here, Kokichi. This will warm you right up.” Shuichi asserted.

“Oh gosh, Kokichi. Are you warm enough? Do you need any more layers?” Kaede asked, kneeling down next to him. He felt her gently stroke his hair and huddle closer to him, and immediately the warm in his chest grew stronger.

Kaede gasped, “Oh! Shuichi, I have an idea. We can all huddle together to generate more heat – like penguins do! Come on!”

“U-um… Ok.”

Before Kokichi knew it, Kaede and Shuichi had joined him under the blanket and were both pressing themselves close to him, each with an arm wrapped around his shoulders. In that moment, with the two people he could truly say he loved the most in the world, he felt that warmth engulf his entire body.

It felt incredible, and utterly irreplaceable.

It felt like… home.

Kaede smiled at him, “Are you feeling warmer, Kokichi?”

Kokichi smirked and pulled both of them closer, “I’ve never felt warmer!”

“Was that a lie?” Shuichi questioned, resting his cheek against Kokichi’s head.

Taking a sip of his tea, Kokichi grinned, “It’s a secret.”


End file.
